


Happily Ever After

by telliefan (captainamergirl)



Category: One Life to Live
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings, Sort Of, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/telliefan
Summary: Weddings and happy occasions.
Relationships: Antonio Vega/Talia Sahid, Jessica Buchanan/John McBain, Natalie Buchanan/Brody Lovett, Shannon McBain/Cristian Vega





	Happily Ever After

_**~~*~~* Languages of Love * ~~*~~**_  
  
"Does this dress make me look fat?" Shannon asked as she looked at her boyfriend of eleven months lounging on the bed in his apartment, chin resting in the palm of his hand as he watched her shimmying into a fairly tight, strapless mauve dress.  
  
"Of course not, babe. But is it me or did you change something about it? Something's missing ... Like half of the skirt ..."  
  
Shannon sniffed haughtily. "Well of course I snipped away little sections here and there. Talia is pretty awesome but her taste in bridal party wear ... Gah. So _passé_. So _trés_ hideous..."  
  
He smiled. "I love it when you talk French to me."  
  
Shannon smiled. "Well, you know I lived there for two years before circling back to this dumpy little middle-of-nowhere podunk pit of boring town called Llanview ..."  
  
He laughed this time, his too-gorgeous bronze skin dimpling perfectly. "Oh well then ..." He grinned. "I bet you loved those French Peppy La Pew types of dudes, huh?"  
  
She zipped up the back of her dress and smirked at him. "Nah. Hot, buff, Latin machismo-type 'dudes' are much more my style these days..."  
  
He smiled and climbed onto his knees, reaching for her across the bed. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up against his chest. "Oh really? You are not talking about my brother by any chance, are you?"  
  
Shannon laughed and pushed him back on the bed. "That was a brief thing we had. It's over now."  
  
"So you're not going to try to break up his and Tal's wedding today?" He joked as his back hit the soft rumbled covers of the mattress.  
  
"Shut it," Shannon said. "And seriously go get a shower. You bench-pressed for like six hours this morning and you frankly, stink. So _rapidamente, por favor_. Get into the shower so we're not late to your own brother's wedding."  
  
He laughed and jumped off the bed, grabbing her hand. "Join me. We can conserve water that way and ..."  
  
"No thank you. I am all perfect looking now and -" She sighed into the feel of his mouth on her finding her sensitive collarbone. "Seriously, don't do that..."  
  
 _"Ven conmigo, mi amor,"_ he said and began unzipping the back of her dress as she pretended to be bored by the very idea of it all.  
  
She sighed. "Fine, fine. But only because I don't want you dry humping my leg during the reception."  
  
He smiled, dropped her dress effortlessly to the floor, and then picked her up in his strong arms. She immediately wrapped her bare legs around his waist and reached behind him, smacking his ass. "Let's make it _muy rapidio."_  
  
He carried her to the bathroom. "I love it when you speak Spanish to me."  
  
She kissed his chest. _"Yo quiero, Cristian Vega."_  
  
 ** _~~*~~* Second Chances *~~*~~_**  
  
John was struggling with his tie in front of the small mirror he used only for when he shaved to make sure he didn't slice his veins in the process. He suddenly felt two soft hands suddenly slide around his back and come to caress the skin under his chin lightly before they went to work on his ugly sand-colored bowtie. The hands felt familiar and yet, he never really got used to how amazing and warm they felt on his skin. A year ago he never would have seen himself in this place. Hell, not even two months ago.  
  
He winked at her in the mirror as she slid her hands away from his now fixed tie and down his lean torso before they fell away. "Merry Christmas, Jess," he said.  
  
She smiled. "Merry Christmas to you too, John."  
  
He smiled. Really smiled before leaning over and capturing her lips in a hot kiss. She slid her arms around his waist and they held each other for a long moment before pulling apart for the sake of air. He reached out and dabbed the corner of her plump, soft bottom lip. "Smeared your lipstick," he explained as her hand settled on his wrist, burning his skin.  
  
She smiled. "Thanks..." She stepped back then and looked at him appreciatively. "Not bad, McBain. You actually clean up pretty good."  
  
"You sound surprised," he said with a little lilting humor in his generally monotone voice.  
  
"I don't really ever see you dressed up. Certainly not wearing a tie."  
  
John flicked the ends of the bowtie. "And a seriously ugly one at that."  
  
"Well, it's amazing you are doing that for Antonio. I know he knows what a sacrifice you are making by not showing up to walk Talia down the aisle in jeans and a leather jacket."  
  
John shook his head. "He owes me," he said. "But you look gorgeous, Jessica. Then you always do..."  
  
Jessica smiled, genuinely pleased. She had never expected to feel alive again, never expected to be happy again. Certainly not with her sister's ex-fiancée. But she was happy. And Natalie seemed more-than-happy with Brody and their little girl. They had switched lovers in a sort of way but somehow they may have finally nabbed their second chances at true love in there somewhere. She thought after Nash she would never be able to totally open her heart to anyone. She had loved Brody once upon a time but it was different than the love she had had for Nash, and far different from what she had begun to feel for John. They had bonded over so many losses and now Jessica felt they were bonded over what they had found in each other. She was very happy and she thought John was too, even though of course he wasn't one to shout that kind of thing from the rooftops. And that was fine. Because he was so different from anyone who had come before him and he was what she needed and wanted in her life now. Plus, Bree loved him. Truly believed John was the "kitty cat's mewou" as she said it through her two missing front teeth.  
  
"Thanks, John, thanks for ... _Everything_. Giving me my life back really."  
  
John nodded and leaned over and kissed her forehead lightly. "You did the same for me, Jess. I won't forget that anytime soon."  
  
 ** _~~* ~~* Good Fortune *~~*~~_**  
  
 _"Seriously?_ You're ..." Brody couldn't say the word. It was too humbling; too amazing. He had lucked out one time but a second time? It didn't seem possible somehow. Good things didn't happen to guys with violent, miserable pasts as he had. They definitely never got second and third chances to get things right. He was so fortunate. He knew that and he tried not to take that for granted anymore.  
  
Natalie nodded as they walked into the church. "Yeah. I've got documentation from my doctor to prove it. And oh, morning sickness too," she added as she suddenly ducked into the women's bathroom following throwing a hand over her mouth.  
  
Brody could hear her retching inside and he felt truly bad for her. Without giving it too much thought, he pushed back the door and walked inside. He found her hunched over a little trash can. She hadn't even made it to the first stall.  
  
He pulled back her long, crimson-red hair and rubbed her back lightly with his free hand. Finally, she seemed to be finished and Brody wrinkled his nose at the odor briefly. "I'll dump that," he said and headed for one of the stalls to empty the vomit into a toilet. He flushed it and came back to find her washing her mouth out with cold tap water from the sink.  
  
"You going to be okay?" He asked her.  
  
She turned off the water-faucet and looked at him with a quirked eyebrow in the bathroom mirror. "Believe me now?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I do," he said with a little smile. "I'm just sorry you're going through all this again. That I wasn't really around for it the first time you went through all this ... stuff with our Meredith ..."  
  
"It's okay," Natalie said. "I thought I had what I wanted then. I lied to myself enough to believe it for the longest time. Thank god, having Meredith and you insisting we tell the truth about how she came to be... Well, it was hard for a while there but I finally feel I have all I really want, you know? I don't have to pretend anymore. You don't even act disgusted when I puke in front of you. It's ... Amazing..."  
  
Brody smiled. "It's amazing I don't react too much to you having morning sickness?"  
  
"Yeah, it sort of is. And the fact that you never gave up on me, that means a lot too. So much actually. I feel like I spent the whole first year of Meredith's life fighting everyone, including you, and now I'm ...I'm happy. And you're in my life and I love it. I really love having you around."  
  
Brody nodded and stepped forward, rubbing the pad of his warm thumb across her cheek. "I love it too, Natalie. In fact, I love you."  
  
Natalie's eyes filled with tears then and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Brody. I didn't expect it ... The best-laid plans and all ..." She smiled as he cupped her hips in either hand and pulled her in for a long kiss that left her gasping for air.  
  
"You can still kiss so damn good," Natalie said.  
  
Brody laughed. "Cursing? Aren't we in the 'House of the Lord'?"  
  
"Hey, that's me. The unedited version."  
  
"I love the unedited version," he said.  
  
"I love us, Brody. Bathroom confessions of love following violet bouts of morning sickness is so us," Natalie mused. "So is ..." She whispered in his ear her very naughty suggestion.  
  
"Seriously? Here?!" he laughed.  
  
"Yeah. It's not like God hasn't seen a lot of sex in all his millions of zillions of years, right?" She said with a smile. "And I'm horny. Hormones always do that to me."  
  
Brody laughed and took her hand, leading her over to the bathroom door before he fastened the lock securely behind them.  
  
 ** _~~*~~* On Their Way to Happily Ever After *~~*~~_**  
  
"Alright, places, places, everyone," Carlotta said. "It's time for the processional." She looked at Talia who was standing in the middle of the vestibule at the church, wearing a long, old-fashioned white dress. "You look beautiful in mi mama's dress, Talia. Antonio will be a puddle of happiness when he sees you. In fact, he has commanded me to get the wedding started right now so he can - in his own words - 'be with Talia forever'."  
  
Talia smiled. "He said that?"  
  
"Yes," Carlotta said and moved over to her would-be-daughter-in-law. "Hey, no crying now. That makeup needs to make it at least until the exchanging of the sacred vows."  
  
Talia smiled. "Sorry. Really sorry. I don't usually get all weepy. In fact, I always poked fun at women who fell apart on their wedding day, and here I am a big hysterical, crying mess ..."  
  
"You're actually beautiful, Talia. Don't worry," Jessica put in.  
  
Just then Shannon scooted into the room with decidedly unusually mussed hair. "Hey, all..." She said. "We still doing this thing?"  
  
Carlotta shook her head. "Yes. We are." She sighed. "I take it your cousin is outside the door."  
  
"He is," Jessica said with a little hint of a smile.  
  
Carlotta sighed. _"Oh, dios mío ..."_  
  
"And where's Natalie?" Carlotta asked. "All the bridal party is accounted for but her ..."  
  
"I'm here!" Natalie suddenly burst into the room with also decidedly rumpled hair.  
  
Shannon immediately burst out laughing. "Oh my god. _Sexhead_. You've got _sexhead_!"  
  
Natalie sighed. "You would know," she returned and lightly flicked the tangled wet ends of Shannon's hair.  
  
Carlotta held up a hand. "I do not want to hear this kind of talk, ladies. Not at all. You have all been involved with _mis niños_ in some way and ... I just do not want to think about it!" She shrugged. "Alright let's get moving here, okay?"  
  
The other four women looked at each other for a moment. "Llanview is incestuous," Shannon said. "And Carlotta, no offense, but your 'niños' are total manwhores."  
  
Carlotta rolled her eyes to the ceiling and crossed herself. Talia shook her head. "Not anymore. At least not Antonio ..."  
  
Shannon smirked. "Oh, I believe after what Cris and I did in the shower before we got here that he's cured of ever wanting to wander ..."  
  
"Shut up!" Natalie said. "You don't have to brag."  
  
Carlotta sighed again. "The Lord is going to strike you all down where you stand."  
  
The girls all burst out into laughter. "At least I'll go really happy," Shannon quipped.  
  
 ** _~~*~~* Happily Ever After, At Last, *~~*~~_**  
  
The wedding was everything it was supposed to be and more. Talia did cry but so did half of the church, including the usually stoic groom, and even John, the best man, had a hint of dampness in his eyes which he later wrote off to "sinus problems". Talia and Antonio were radiant, happier than anyone had ever seen them. They would get their happily-ever-after and so would many others.  
  
After the reception drew to a close around 3 a.m. that night, Cristian proposed to Shannon in the gardens of the Palace. She laughed, thinking he was joking or really drunk on Carlotta's mixed cocktail beverages. When he pulled a ring from his pocket, she didn't laugh anymore. She actually smiled and then she cried and said "Yes!" No one had ever loved her the way Cristian did. She had never loved anyone this way either. And she wanted it to last. It would. Ten years of marriage later and they are still going strong and the sex is better than ever before!  
  
Brody and Natalie decided to get married as well. When they announced it people just asked why the hell they hadn't done it a lot sooner. They should have listened too because Natalie went into labor with their son right in the middle of their wedding. The preacher who had been performing the ceremony rode with them to the church in the ambulance and they were pronounced officially husband and wife by the time Natalie was wheeled into the hospital and have given birth to a healthy son. Brody and Natalie never did things traditionally but that was them and that was how they found their own happy ending together.  
  
Jessica and John took it slow, sometimes too slow, achingly slow. It took three and a half years, a few starts and stops along the way, but eventually, they too got married. Jessica didn't make John wear a bowtie or any tie at all actually either. Three years after that, Jessica told John one early morning that she had seen the doctor and she had been informed that they were expecting. They were both afraid to dare trust in it. They had lost so many children between them but in the end, the worrying and wondering all was made worthwhile when Jessica placed a healthy, nine-pound, John-lookalike baby boy in his arms for the first time. John had adopted Bree officially years ago as well so now he has two kids calling him "Dad".  
  
And Antonio and Talia? They married of course. Talia got pregnant sometime on their three-week-long honeymoon in the Rivera and within eight and a half months, twins girls had arrived in the Sahid-Vega family. Jamie took to her role as big sister like a fish does in water. Talia was eventually unexpectedly promoted to be the first female commissioner in Llanview PD history after Bo Buchanan retired. She told Antonio nervously, expecting him to be miffed. He said he was happy for her and he was. He doesn't even flinch anymore when she piles on extra tasks for him to do so that she can't be accused of favoring her spouse. They're happy. Very happy.  
  
In fact, all of them were happy. Just the way it always should be...  
  
 **THE END.**


End file.
